Apple late this month began advising its direct and indirect sales channels of near-term shortages of its popular all-in-one desktops, as the company prepares draw down inventories ahead of introducing new models in the coming weeks.

In particular, a person familiar with the matter says the Mac maker is informing some of its distributors not to expect any further stock of the entry level 21.5-inch, 3.06GHz iMac, implying that production of that model has ceased.

Meanwhile, those with ties to the company's stateside reseller channels are being advised to sell through their stock of all existing iMac models and to keep their inventories as lean as possible for the next few weeks.

These anomalies are similar to those reported by AppleInsider last month when it predicted the imminent the arrival of HDMI-equipped Mac minis, which turned up a few weeks later.

Apple has been plotting the upcoming iMac refresh since last year. At the time, the company was brainstorming a lineup that would include more than one quad-core configuration, according to people familiar with the plans.

Potential configurations included a dual-core Core i5 model, as well as quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 configurations. Also of interest, according to those same people, were indications that new iMacs would be the first Macs to employ Intel's Core i3 processor at the low-end, which would have the new family of desktops utilize all three flavors of Intel's mobile Core line of processors.

That said, it's not clear whether Apple has recently decided to alter any of these plans, especially in light of shortages (1, 2) of Intel's less brawny Core offerings. (Readers can see a list of Intel's Core lineup here.) Also unconfirmed is a recent report that the new iMacs would usher in USB 3.0 support and a faster FireWire interface.

The USB 3.0 specification, which was in Apple's hands over a year ago and targeted for a June 2010 release, is said to be be ten times faster than the current Hi-Speed USB standard (USB 2.0), and also more power-efficient, leading to lower active and idle power requirements. Like its predecessor, USB 3.0 is backward compatible with USB 2.0 devices.

Meanwhile, it's believed that Apple continues to work on the first Macs destined to adopt microprocessors from Intel rival AMD. It also holds a couple of Pro-related advances in its labs, namely a 12-core Xeon-based Mac Pro and a 27-inch LED Cinema Display, both of which appear to have slipped past their expected arrival dates.

Also, what about the new iMac case being two pieces of black glass (front and back) with a band of aluminum sandwiched between like the iPhone 4?

That would be very dramatic!

Best

Id like to see USB3.0, FW3200, BT4.0, better than VGA iSight camera, higher-res display option (not standard because until 10.7(?) brings RI the elements will be too small for too many people), Dual drive system (with option for fast SSD boot drive and HDD for data), and better video-in, on all Macs, that also includes audio and support for HDMI/DVI signaling. Yeah, most of those simply wont happen.

As for mirroring the iPhones look, Im not sure that is possible with the current design supporting the weight on center of the back plate. I suppose it could adhere to a metal plate, but I think the challenges of that much glass would be wasteful.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

As for mirroring the iPhones look, Im not sure that is possible with the current design supporting the weight on center of the back plate. I suppose it could adhere to a metal plate, but I think the challenges of that much glass would be wasteful.

USB 3, if it works as designed, means the iMac will cannibalise a few more MacPro sales. Photographers (like myself) who have large external hard drives (many many terabytes) usually in some form of raid setup like a drobo or standard direct storage and who generate very large files benefit from e-sata for its speed which in daily use is much faster than firewire 800. It's for this reason primarily that many buy MacPros. It's not so much any of the slots, its just for the e-sata potential. USB 3 is even faster (when implemented correctly) than e-sata. I'll be really pleased if they add USB 3 as will many photographers. And it would be great if they made the internal HD on the iMac accessible so that when it stops working the computer won't require a trip to Apple to fix.

Apple late this month began advising its direct and indirect sales channels of near-term shortages of its popular all-in-one desktops, as the company prepares draw down inventories ahead of introducing new models in the coming weeks.

Perhaps this way instead...
"Apple late this month began advising its direct and indirect sales channels of near-term shortages of its popular all-in-one desktops, ahead of expectations that new models will be introduced in the coming weeks."

Potential configurations included a dual-core Core i5 model, as well as quad-core Core i5 and Core i7 configurations. Also of interest, according to those same people, were indications that new iMacs would be the first Macs to employ Intel's Core i3 processor at the low-end, which would have the new family of desktops utilize all three flavors of Intel's mobile Core line of processors.

I was thinking the same thing -- lets see, a 30 ft iMac would be on the order of 19 feet tall. I can see I am going to have to have higher ceilings. I am not sure the neighbors will be pleased but my power company certainly will be!

hmmm... interesting news. an upgrade to my first gen aluminium imac is a possibility, and i will qualify for edu discount until the end of sep. would be great if they come out before then so i can qualify for a free ipod touch which i won't hold onto

what are the chances considering the back to school offers are in progress?

I did not buy iMacs for my design studio for this reason only. Instead, I bought NEC IPS displays for their matte screens.

Just curious, which model NEC did you get (I'm also a designer)? I don't know that I can wait any longer and I'm tired of "making do." I gave glossy a chance when I bought my MacBook Pro right before matte was an option, and the verdict is I hate glossy as much as I thought I would—the eye strain is ridiculous.

Just curious, which model NEC did you get (I'm also a designer)? I don't know that I can wait any longer and I'm tired of "making do." I gave glossy a chance when I bought my MacBook Pro right before matte was an option, and the verdict is I hate glossy as much as I thought I would—the eye strain is ridiculous.

Have fun with the eye strain from the incredibly heavy, grainy/sparkly matte coating of every other IPS panel out there, then.

Amen to that. Earlier in the year the chips were out but there was a shortage, but now they are shipping in quantity so there's no excuse. And don't botch the update like you did last time (downgrade/price increase?).

Quote:

Originally Posted by bdkennedy1

And it's spent 7 years in the same case.

Which makes perfect sense. I love the current case, and I'd love to see them keep it mostly the same.

But I realistically don't see a touchscreen iMac until at least Oct. 2011, with 10.7 Ocelot (Painted Leopard).

Do a practice run on a "make believe" touchscreen. See how much productivity you lose by constantly removing your hand from the keyboard or mouse to use the touchscreen and if you think you're only or primarily going to use the touchscreen, see how tired your arm gets hanging in midair for long periods of time.

It is obvious that Apple maintains focus on their primary money maker. IMac is it in that regard.

As for what is in the upgrades I think it is about time that four cores are supplied in all iMac models, the OS is fully capable of using them and many applications also benefit. Even if the low end model has to run lower clocked or lower performance CPUs, in the end MOST users will be better of with four cores.

I doubt USB 3 will be in the machines. It all depends upon a chipset where it is "free". I'm not going to knock USB 3, but contrary to opinions expressed in this thread it isn't really all it is cracked up to be. Apple needs to implement, sometime of course; I just don't see it happening this month or next. Unless of course Apple puts in a bleeding edge Intel chipset.

As to a glass backed iMac - NO WAY. It would be far to heavy but even worst a structural nightmare. Look at it this way people Apple has come a very long way in refactoring their machines for servicability over the last couple of years. Just about every model has seen drastic improvements in this regard, even the Mini could be considered improved. The MBP went from being about the worst in the industry to the best. So why not continual improvements to the iMac that focus on servicability and easy upgrading? IMac does not need to be a form over function machine like MB AIR. So yeah redesign the case anyway you want Apple, just make access to the RAM, disk drives and other expansion very easy.

As to the screen itself, please stick with the crisp high resolution IPS displays and ignore the whining from the idiots claim such eyes hurt their eyes or in some manner offends their senses. In this case I'm speaking from experience here, matte screens leave a lot to be desired. Your primary focus should be on more pixels and increasing dynamic range.

Finally it would be really nice to see LightPeak in the iMac. Copper interconnects like USB3 and FireWire have really hit a dead end. Gives us an iMac update that will have a future. It is not that the faster copper standards won't work, they do to some extent, it's just that you don't want to be buying peripheral hardware built around a deadens tech.

Finally iMac needs at least two drive bays though more would be nice. At least one goal would be to have a very fast SSD for boot and apps with bulk storage on another drive. These drives should be available from the bottom edge of the iMac just like the RAM is. In essence slots for your "disk" drives. Since there is no logical reason to keep SSDs in the old mechanical foot print it would be fantastic to see Apple pioneer a PCI Express card format for at least one of those bays.

In the end their is plenty of room to innovate with in the iMac design. I'm just wondering if this is a minor or major design bump.